Last Thursday (March 6) I was lucky enough to participate in a COPPUL session focused on librarians as researchers. This session was attached to the regular COPPUL directors’ meeting, but included an additional librarian from each COPPUL institution. The day began with a panel presentation on librarian research that included our Dean as well as the University Librarians from the UofA and UC Berkeley. This was followed by short presentations from eleven librarians — the highlight of the day for me! The librarians spoke about their research, either as part of larger university research activity or as an individual researcher. I took lots of notes and need to follow up with at least a couple of librarians, one from the UofR and one from MRU, who are working in some very interesting areas in information literacy. The day ended with discussion about the role COPPUL could play in supporting and promoting librarian scholarship and research.

In all, a great day of learning, of networking with colleagues across western Canada, and sharing research interests and experiences — with an added benefit of a few days in Victoria where there are flowers and no snow!